Schumacher wins Monaco pole

Ralf Schumacher has won pole position for Williams-BMW in tomorrow's Monaco Grand Prix.

Schumacher took top spot on the grid by 0.036 seconds from McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen to win only the second pole position of his career.

His team-mate Juan Pablo Montoya was third as Williams had a successful start to the weekend.

Jarno Trulli was fourth in his Renault but Schumacher's elder brother Michael could only manage fifth.

The Ferrari driver, who is trying to win in Monaco for a record sixth time, was quickest on the first sector of his qualifying lap but faded to finish nearly half a second behind his brother.

Ferrari's troubles continued with Rubens Barrichello finishing in seventh spot, one place behind David Coulthard in the McLaren.

Coulthard had been quickest in practice but his lowly starting place means that he will struggle to match the victories he has claimed in Monaco for the past two seasons.

Jensen Button is doubtful to race tomorrow after crashing his BAR-Honda at 180mph in the last practice session before qualifying.

The 23-year-old Briton bounced off three crash barriers after losing control of his car when leaving the tunnel on the fastest part of the circuit just before the harbour.

He was stuck in the cockpit for several minutes before being lifted out by paramedics and taken to hospital.

He was not badly hurt but will undergo further tests this afternoon and will only race tomorrow if he gets the all-clear from Formula One's chief medic, Prof Sid Watkins.

Jordan's Ralph Firman will start his first race in Monaco in 16th spot while fellow rookie Justin Wilson will line up 19th after having to correct a couple of twitches in his Minardi on the daunting track.